Regulations are considered subordinate legislation because they are created pursuant to an enabling act. Specific provisions within the Act empower a Ministry or Cabinet (also known federally as the "Governor in Council" or provincially as the "Lieutenant-Governor in Council") to pass regulations. Regulations " flesh out" the details of the statutory regime created by the enabling act.
A sponsoring Minister makes a policy decision to have regulations drafted on a particular issue. Sometimes a draft of the regulations is prepared by Ministry staff; alternatively, the Office of Legislative Counsel is instructed to draft regulations. Either way, the originating Ministry is responsible for providing materials explaining the background behind the regulations; these are a key source for government policy.
Once a regulation (or amending regulation) has been enacted, it is published in the official Gazette. Federal regs are published in Canada Gazette Part II [LAW LIBRARY level 3: KE119 (LC)]. The current year's Archives (1998 - ).
BC regs are published in British Columbia Gazette. Part II, Regulations [LAW LIBRARY level 3: KEB71 .A24 (LC)]. For 2001 onwards, the electronic version of B.C. Gazette, Part II is available only in QP LegalEze 
.
After publication in the official Gazettes, regulations currently in effect are consolidated for convenience. Current consolidations of federal and BC regulations are available on the internet via the Law Library homepage's Legislation & Government link; see: Consolidated Regulations of Canada (Dept. of Justice) and BC Laws - Current Consolidated Law - Statutes and Regulations. Note the currency date of regulations you use on the internet.
For searching historical regulations, consolidated indexes are available for both federal and for provincial regulations. Each Index uses a different numbering system (explained below).
Federal: Canada Gazette Part II's Consolidated Index of Statutory Instruments [LAW LIBRARY level 3: KE125 .C363 (LC)] has two Tables.
- Table I lists regulations alphabetically by title and provides the title of the enabling Act. Once you know the enabling Act, use Table II.
- Table II lists Statutes of Canada alphabetically by title; below each Act's title appears a list of regulations made pursuant to that Act.
Historically, federal regulations were consolidated only once in print in Consolidated Regulations of Canada [LAW LIBRARY level 3: KE119 1978 (LC)] published in 1978. These regs are cited as "C.R.C." plus the volume (Vol.) and chapter (c.) numbers.
Regulations created after 1978 are numbered in two ways, e.g. SOR/93-54 or SI/2004-16. Regardless of the prefix, in current federal regulations the numbers represent date-reg number, e.g. /93-54 means 1993, reg. #54. Most post-1978 regulations are SOR (Statututory Orders and Regulations) but some are SI (Statutory Instruments).
British Columbia: Index of Current B.C. Regulations [LAW LIBRARY level 3: KEB89 .B74 (LC)] lists Statutes of British Columbia alphabetically by title. Below each Act's title appears a list of regulations made pursuant to that enabling act.
BC regulations are numbered as B.C. Reg. 140/76 or B.C. Reg. 78/2002. For BC regs, the number sequence is reg number/date.
Current BC Regs are available in the Consolidated Regulations of British Columbia in print [LAW LIBRARY reference room (level 2): KEB78 .B74 (LC)] and on the internet. The most current electronic consolidation of BC Regulations is found in Quickscribe Online or QP LegalEze .
To summarize: If the act or regulations being researched are fairly current they are available on the internet. The Legislation & Government link of the Law Library homepage provides access to a range of online resources including Federal and Provincial Bills, Statutes, Regulations, and Debates. First select and click the link for the relevant jurisdiction, i.e. Canada | British Columbia | Other Provinces | United Kingdom | United States | World Legislation then select relevant resources.
Locating Other Sources of Government Policy:
Here are some specific resources that can be used to locate government policy behind statutes and regulations.
- Use UBC Library catalogue to locate a relevant book, government background paper, or research report. A key book or report on your topic may provide a useful overview, general discussion, or footnotes to other relevant studies or cases (i.e. more leads!).
Government websites:
- Key resources are accessible via the Law Library homepage using links under the heading "Legal Websites & Databases". Relevant government Ministry websites can be accessed via the Government of Canada Website or the B.C. Government Website. Ministry websites often have background research papers on current policy initiatives. Use the "advanced" versions of site search engines.
Government contacts:
- Not all government policy is documented in written sources. After thoroughly researching a number of print & internet resources, a good information source can be an individual working at the relevant Ministry. For convenience, here is a current list of BC Ministries. If you search a ministry website using keywords, you may find a background paper listing the contact person.
Or, use government directories on the internet to locate contacts, see: Government of Canada Directory and BC Government Directory. A phone call or email to the right person can often provide further leads on why the government made a particular policy decision or enacted regulations on a particular topic. When you call or write, always explain that you are a UBC graduate student at doing research into government policy underlying the particular statute or regulation.
